دانلود کتاب “Selcouþ signes”: Magic, reason and social order in “William of Palerne”

This thesis seeks to assert the literary merit of the Middle English alliterative translation, William of Palerne, which has been dismissed by earlier critics of the poem as, at best, a mediocre work by an incompetent poet. It demonstrates that previous criticism of the poem has generally misunderstood its key elements, such as magic, as well as the poet's use of certain self-reflexive techniques to convey meaning. By tracing the poet's treatment of the magical and pseudo-magical events in the poem, and the alterations that the English translator makes to the original French version, the thesis reveals the sophistication involved in the poet's examination of human nature and of order in society. Furthermore, the thesis illustrates that through the repeated models of perception in the romance, the poet actually provides his audience with models for reading the text, and stresses the importance of interpretation by exploring the ability of outer appearance to represent inner Truth.